Family, friends mourn teen who was Greenwich’s rock

Steven Sudell at the Sudell Sprint color run at Western Middle School on Nov. 22, 2017.

Steven Sudell at the Sudell Sprint color run at Western Middle School on Nov. 22, 2017.

Photo: Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media

Photo: Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media

Image
1of/24

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 24

Steven Sudell at the Sudell Sprint color run at Western Middle School on Nov. 22, 2017.

Steven Sudell at the Sudell Sprint color run at Western Middle School on Nov. 22, 2017.

Photo: Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media

Family, friends mourn teen who was Greenwich’s rock

1 / 24

Back to Gallery

GREENWICH — A brain tumor and a wheelchair could not stop avid golfer Steven “Weev” Sudell from hitting a bucket of balls on the driving range.

Joe Felder, head golf pro at Griffith E. Harris Golf Course, taught Steven, who won a junior tournament a few years ago, how to hit again using a new set of shorter clubs that accommodated his wheelchair.

“He was a strong kid,” Felder said. “He was so happy to hit the ball.”

Steven Michael Sudell, 14, of Greenwich, whose battle with cancer moved and rallied the town behind him, died on Wednesday.

Born in Greenwich on Jan. 27, 2004, to Paul and Amy Brooks Sudell, he was known for what friends described as a warm and comforting personality and a passion for golf and football.

“He was an angel on Earth,” Western Middle School Reading Specialist Barbara Jacowleff said. “I know I was supposed to be his teacher, but Steven taught me more about the goodness of life than I could’ve possibly given him in any lesson.”

Steven was diagnosed with a rare cancerous brain tumor in April 2017, and underwent proton beam therapy and chemotherapy that summer, followed by weekly blood and platelet transfusions. During treatment, he was homeschooled to keep up with his eighth-grade classmates at Western Middle School.

In February, Steven and his family vacationed in the Bahamas, a wish granted by Make-A-Wish Connecticut, where they enjoyed deep sea fishing and playing golf. But about a month later, his cancer returned, with additional tumors in his spine. He underwent more surgery and another round of radiation, which were unsuccessful, and Steven returned home on hospice care.

Although his cancer had worsened by graduation at Western, he returned for the ceremony.

Beinstein remembered Steven for his citizenship, strength of character and lasting impact on the school.

“Steven was a special kid,” Beinstein said. “As he got sicker, his resolve got even stronger. He was about kindness and spreading that kindness.”

The school held a moment of silence Thursday morning and placed some painted rocks in its rock garden, which will be dedicated to Steven.

“He is going to be missed,” Beinstein said. “He left behind a legacy of gentleness, of kindness, of perseverance, just a wonderful kid.”

Steven’s fight against cancer inspired others to get involved and rally to support him.

When town resident Elisha Perez and her 9-year-old daughter Ava started a Kindness Rocks garden in town where people could leave rocks with positive messages on them, they quickly started seeing rocks painted with the hashtag #TeamSudell on them.

The involvement of Sudell’s supporters was a driving force behind the Kindness Rocks garden created at Town Hall in September. Perez said people could relate to his fight and how he handled his adversity.

“In the face of his illness he wasn’t afraid,” Perez sad. “He only wanted to do things for others. He put the needs of others first and cares for others. I think that is something we crave as a community.”

When the Town Hall garden was dedicated, members of Steven’s family were there when Greenwich High School football coach John Marinelli placed a large rock decorated with the red Cardinal logo and 200 signatures on it as a tribute to Steven.

The coach this week said Steven’s battle inspired all of Greenwich, and he became a beacon of hope, inspiration and motivation for the GHS football players.

“As negative and tragic as this time is, it’s amazing to see the amount of support the community has given to the Sudell family, which has been surrounded by the community,” he said. “It’s an emotional week for a lot of reasons, but I take solace knowing when bad things happen, incredible people rise to the occasion to support each other.”

Perez said she has already heard from others in the community who now want to add similar rocks to the garden.

“There will always be #TeamSudell rocks there,” Perez said.

For Jacowleff, Steven’s legacy is as permanent as the painted rocks.

“I always felt the world will be a better place because Steven Sudell was here,” Jacowleff said. “He left us all in a better place.”

Steven’s illness brought him and his best friend, freshman Jack Ryan, closer together.

“If you’re never in the position, you never know how it feels,” Ryan said Thursday. “I looked at it as positives instead of negatives. We went bowling ... he was still better at golfing than me. We were more like family.”

It has been difficult to watch his family suffer, Ryan said, but everyone who knew Steven takes solace in the life he was able to have.

“Steven had a very good life,” Ryan said. “In his very short life span, he did a lot to help a lot of people. That should not be forgotten.”

Attempts to reach the Sudell family were unsuccessful Thursday.

Another friend, freshman Angel Furano, said Steven thought unlike any other kid his age.

His family celebrated Christmas in October because they knew he would not make it, she said. He asked for the X-Box gaming console so that he could donate it to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he received treatment.

“He celebrated Christmas, but he was really thinking about other kids,” she said.

Steven had a creative spark that found its outlet in socks, colored pencil drawings and YouTube videos.

“The socks are something I wear constantly,” freshman Tru Lasley said. “Every time I wear them I think of him, and how much of a warrior he was.”

His colorful, retro “Warrior Weev” socks raised $16,750, funds which originally went to the Sunshine Kids Foundation, but then went to his own health care costs.

“It’s no surprise that while Steven was unable to leave his house, he was raising money for kids with cancer,” Jacowleff said. “He’s always looking to give back whatever was given to him.”

When he started his YouTube channel, his original goal was 15 subscribers, but within a week he had 5,000 subscribers, which grew to 15,000, Furano said.

He posted videos regularly. Sometimes, his words slurred because of his medication.

He showed viewers colored pencil drawings of Charlie Brown, Woodstock, a Thanksgiving turkey and a zoo of animals. Each gecko, ant, flamingo and camel had a red heart, and the young artist named every drawing after a family member.

“He was so grateful that he could show the drawings he did every day in his bed,” Furano said. “Every single drawing would have a little red heart, which he said, ‘Just shows the love, that everyone’s heart is beating and nice.’”

Lindsay Sylvester, who knew Steven since kindergarten, became Steven’s girlfriend in July.

The two families are close, which made it easier for Sylvester to help the Sudells, she said.

“We were there for them, we felt their pain,” she said. “It was good to be close to them, to help them through it.”

Every time she hung out with him, she did not know if it would be her last.

“I’ll love him forever,” she said.

In addition to his parents, he is survived by his brothers Derek and Tyler; his paternal grandparents Frank and Dorothy Sudell; as well as many aunts, uncles and cousins. He was proceeded in death by his maternal grandparents Robert and Patricia Brooks.

Friends and family may visit from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30, at Castiglione Funeral Home, 544 Old Post Road, Greenwich.

Today's Top Insider StoriesOur journalists provide in-depth analysis and reporting about the people, places and issues that matter most to you. Subscribers get access to all of their comprehensive coverage.Stories from Insider